Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the short-form Child Perceptions Questionnaire for 11-14-year-olds for assessing oral health needs of children.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the short-form of the Children Perceived Oral Health Questionnaire aimed at assessing child's oral health-related quality of life of children aged 11-14 years (CPQ11-14 ). A secondary objective was to explore its screening qualities for evaluating oral health needs and immediate referral for treatment.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted during August-December of 2011 in Monterrey, Mexico (n = 303 schoolchildren). The CPQ11-14 consisted of 16 items and 2 key questions. Dental caries was diagnosed by visual-tactile exam, and malocclusion by WHO index. We estimated Cronbach's alpha and Spearman's correlations and compared rank scores with the Mann-Whitney test. As we did not have a preestablished cutoff point score, we identified one with the best combination of sensitivity/specificity values using receiver operating characteristic curves.

RESULTS

Internal consistency was 0.85. Correlation was 0.40 (P < 0.001) between CPQ11-14 scores and self-perceived oral health rating and 0.51 (P < 0.001) between CPQ11-14 score and general well-being rating (concurrent validity). The mean score was 11.6 ± 8.6 for children in need of oral care and 8.1 ± 7.2 for those not in need of oral care (P < 0.01; discriminating validity). Sensitivity was 79.4% and specificity 48.7%; the positive and negative predictive values were 81.6% and 45.2%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The Spanish version short-form CPQ11-14 registered acceptable psychometric properties. We were able to identify a cutoff point score with acceptable sensitivity and positive predictive value but still needs future validation before generalizing its use.